Managing a Drupal site effectively requires more than just a powerful CMS. You need the best hosting platform that supports your complex needs. Pantheon is designed specifically for this purpose, providing an environment that improves Drupal performance, security, and management.

Pantheon offers automatic backups, scalable hosting, and built-in version control for optimized Drupal sites. To take advantage of these features of Pantheon, we’ll learn how to use it to build Drupal sites. We’ll also look at the use cases that Drupal developers use to leverage the full potential of both tools.

What is Pantheon?

Pantheon is a WebOps platform specifically designed for Drupal (and WordPress) sites. It provides an integrated environment for developing, testing and hosting Drupal sites with a focus on performance, security and collaboration. It is also the world’s fastest host for Drupal websites with an efficient container-based platform.

It is suitable for various industries including education, healthcare, nonprofits, retail, and high-tech. It supports over 300,000 websites and processes more than 10 billion page views per month.

In addition, Pantheon actively contributes to the Drupal community by providing free hosting for Drupal sites and contributing to their codebase.

Main features of Pantheon for Drupal

Pantheon offers a robust set of features specifically tailored to Drupal development and hosting. Here’s an overview of some of the most important ones:

By offering these features, Pantheon streamlines the Drupal development workflow and hosting experience. It provides Drupal development professionals with a robust platform to build, manage and scale your website.

How do I set up Pantheon with Drupal?

Setting up Pantheon with Drupal involves several steps, from creating a Pantheon account to deploying your Drupal site. Here’s a detailed guide to help you get started:

Step 1: Create a Pantheon account

Visit the Pantheon website and register for a free account. Once you have an account, log in to the Pantheon workspace.

Step 2: Choose your plan

Pantheon offers different plans for different project sizes and requirements. You can choose one of the following plans:

• Silver: Free for individuals
• Gold: For small teams (500/month)
• Platinum & Diamond: For medium to large companies (individual prices)

Choose the one that suits your needs and preferences.

Step 3: Create a new Drupal site on Pantheon

Go to the workspace and click “Create new site” (yellow button at the bottom right of the page). If the site is part of a professional workspace, select a workspace for the site. Then click the “Next” button and wait a few minutes for the new site to be created.

Step 4: Secure your development environment

Pantheon places a high priority on security, so before setting up Drupal, make sure you have SSH keys configured on both your local machine and your Pantheon account. This allows for secure communication during development. See Pantheon’s documentation for detailed instructions.

Step 5: Access your development environment

Once setup is complete, you will be prompted to the development environment for your Drupal site. Click Visit Development Site to access it.

Step 6: Complete Drupal installation

You will be redirected to the familiar Drupal installation wizard. Follow the instructions of the Drupal installation to configure it:

• Choose your preferred language.
• Select an installation profile (Standard or Minimal).
• Enter your database information. Pantheon pre-configures this, so you usually don’t need to change anything.
• Configure your site by entering the site name, email address, and administrator account details.

Once done, return to the browser tab that contains your site dashboard. Make a note of your new username and password, as you will use these to log in to your CMS in all environments (development, test, live).

You have successfully set up your Drupal website on Pantheon. Now you can start building and customizing websites while taking advantage of a powerful and secure hosting environment. If you want to build a complex website quickly, consider hiring our Drupal development company.

How do I use Pantheon with Drupal?

Using Pantheon with Drupal includes setting up version control, leveraging multidev environments, deploying changes, and managing sites. Here’s how you can accomplish each of these tasks:

Use case 1: Setting up version control

Pantheon uses Git for version control so you can track changes and collaborate effectively.

Step 1: Create a Git repository for your Drupal project. Once done, you will receive a Git repository URL.

Step 2: Push your code to the Pantheon upstream repository.

Step 3: Now Pantheon automatically creates a Git branch for each environment (Dev, Test, Live).

By setting up version control with Git on Pantheon, you create a solid foundation for managing your Drupal site’s codebase. This systematic approach to version control is critical for maintaining code integrity and streamlining development processes.

Use case 2: Setting up multidev environments

Multidev environments allow you to create branch-based environments for development, testing, and collaboration, all without impacting the main Dev, Test, and Live environments.

Step 1: To create multiple environments from the Pantheon dashboard, navigate to your site and select the Multidev tab. Click Create Environment, give it a name, and select the branch you want it based on.

Step 2: Develop and test new features in this environment. Each Multidev environment has its own URL, database and file system.

Step 3: Once development and testing are complete, merge the multidev branch back into the master branch:

git checkout master

git merge 

git push origin master

By using multidev environments, you can maintain high code quality and reduce the risk of errors on your live site.

Use case 3: Deploy changes

Deploy changes through the standard Develop, Test, and Live workflow to ensure a smooth and bug-free production environment. Here’s how you can do it:

Step 1: Communicate changes to the development environment as described in the first use case (Setting up version control).

Step 2: Before you push changes live, deploy them to Deploy for Testing. You can do this by using the Deploy button in the test environment.

Step 3: Once testing is complete, deploy the changes to the live environment using the Deploy button in the live environment on the Pantheon dashboard.

Deploying changes through Pantheon’s structured dev, test, and live workflow ensures a smooth and reliable release process. Adopting this workflow is essential to maintaining a robust and bug-free production environment.

Use case 4: Manage your site

Pantheon offers various tools and features that help you manage your Drupal site effectively. Here are some of them that are easy to use:

• Backup: Pantheon provides automatic nightly backups. You can also create manual backups from the Pantheon dashboard. To restore a backup, go to the Backups tab and select the backup you want to restore.
• Performance optimization: Use Pantheon’s built-in caching mechanisms (Varnish, Redis) and CDN to optimize site performance. And to monitor site performance, you can use built-in tools like New Relic.
• Security: Pantheon ensures security through managed updates, HTTPS support, and DDoS protection. However, to ensure security, you must regularly update the Drupal core and modules to the latest versions.

Managing your Drupal site on Pantheon is made easy by the platform’s comprehensive tools and features. By using the tools provided by Pantheon, professional Drupal development services can focus on the site’s functionality.

By following the steps above, you will be able to use Pantheon to manage, develop, and deploy your Drupal site. These use cases are just a start of how you can use Pantheon. For more information, see the official Pantheon documentation.

Frequently asked questions about using Pantheon with Drupal

Diploma

Pantheon is more than just a hosting platform for Drupal; it’s a tool that streamlines site management and increases performance. With features like automatic backups, scalable resources, and version control, it meets the needs of Drupal sites.

It simplifies workflows, makes it easier to set up new websites and optimize existing ones with a user-friendly interface. Choosing Pantheon as a supporting tool allows you to focus on content and development. To get an effective and efficient development service that follows best practices, hire Drupal developers.